For the first time in South Dakota State Division I history, the Jackrabbit men’s golf team has a won The Summit League Championship.
SDSU shot a final-round 294 Tuesday at the Sand Creek Station Golf Course. With the win, SDSU earns the league’s automatic NCAA Tournament berth.
The Jackrabbits shot an 878 (292-292-294) on the par-72, 6,733-yard course. SDSU finished 14 over and won by 11 stokes over second place Omaha.
Freshman Felipe Strobach (Lima, Peru) tied for second, shooting a final-round 73 (75-69-73=217), one shot of the lead.
Freshman Alejandro Perazzo (Caracas, Venezuela) placed sixth, firing a 220 (72-73-75) while junior Trevor Tobin (Brandon) tied for 12th, shooting a 224 (71-78-75).
Junior Grant Smith (Johnston, Iowa) tied for 15th (80-72-73=225) and freshman Jaxon Lynn (Sylvan Lake, Alberta) tied for 18th (74-79-73=226).
The Jackrabbits will learn which NCAA regional they will play in when the NCAA announces selections for the 2016 NCAA Division I Men’s Golf Championship on Golf Channel’s Morning Drive Thursday at 9:30 a.m. The selection show will also stream live on the Golf Channel website. Regional rounds of the championship are May 16-18 at six predetermined regional championship sites.
South Dakota’s men’s golf team placed ninth at the Summit League Championship Meet. The Coyotes entered the tournament as the defending champions and returned three to this year’s lineup, but trailed by 22 strokes following Monday’s opening-round 314 (+22) and never recovered.
South Dakota shot 304 Wednesday for a 54-hole score of 917 (+53), one stroke behind both Denver and IUPUI and seven behind North Dakota State. South Dakota State, which took an 18-stroke lead into Wednesday’s final round, won by 14 strokes over second-place Omaha for the Jacks’ first Summit League Championship. SDSU shot 878 for the tournament, 14-over par.
Coyote senior Miles Death carded two birdies en route to a final round 74, the round of the day for USD. Death moved up seven spots to finish in 28th place in the individual race. Junior Grant Campbell shot 76 while junior Cody Seal and senior Jordan Rykal scored with 77s. Seal finished as USD’s top player in 18th place.
